Betsey,

We're at the same stage of our research--I have two chapters done and
will defend this spring too! You must have had some experience
bringing your son into the field too? I agree that it is reassuring
to read the stories and experiences on this board and am so thankful
that Carolyn got it started!

Sara

--- In scienceandfamilies@yahoogroups.com, "boughton.elizabeth"
<boughton.elizabeth@...> wrote:
>
> Hi Everyone,
>
> I just read Sara's article and joined this group. Sara, thank you
for
> writing the article! It feels wonderfully reassuring to find other
> scientist moms out there. My story is that I started my PhD with a
7
> month old baby. The first two years were really hard. But, I was
> able to complete my field work and am now writing my dissertation-
my
> son is four and a half years old now and its much easier. I can't
> believe he'll be starting kindergarten next year! My husband and I
> work together but also had full time care when my son turned 1.5
> years old. Before that I did similar to what Carolyn did with
going
> in part time and having a babysitter at the house. I agree with
Sara
> and Carolyn that having a baby in your life makes you much more
> efficient. Now that I'm completing my degree...I'll be defending
in
> March...and I have two chapters complete, my husband and I decided
we
> wanted to have another baby (our last one). I'm just wondering
when
> I should tell my advisor I am pregnant; at this point I'm only
three
> weeks. My advisor and I still have some field work we are
> collaborating on. I think he will be supportive because he loves
> children and has two of his own, but at the same time I still have
> misgivings about letting him down because it will cause some
> inconvenience.
>
> Its nice to hear everyone's stories and encouragement!
>
> Betsey
>
>
> --- In scienceandfamilies@yahoogroups.com, "carolynkurle" <kurle@>
> wrote:
> >
> > Hi Flore
> >
> > Thanks for sharing your experience! It's amazing that you are
> through
> > your Ph.D. and only 26 years old - congratulations.
> >
> > It feels very uncertain when you are pregnant or planning to have
a
> > child as to how things will fall into place regarding your career
> and
> > work life. I assumed that things would be a certain way and
found
> out
> > that they were totally different. For instance, I was really
amazed
> > and surprised at how much I wanted to be home with my son as much
as
> > possible especially at the beginning. I greatly underestimated
the
> > power of the biological pull that a child has on its mother. That
> > said, I was also grateful
> > to have my work because it was and continues to be a very
fulfilling
> > aspect of my life. Taking care of a little one is hard work and
> it's
> > a great "break" to be able to exercise your mind and immerse
> yourself
> > in science during work time.
> >
> > My son is 19 months old and I am currently in my post-doc. I was
> > pregnant and had my son while I was still in graduate school and
> > managed to do all of my last minute lab work before he was born so
> > that all I had to do after he came was analyze data and write. I
> was
> > able to do this part-time with the aid of a great fellowship, a
> > supportive husband who co-parented and also worked part-time, and,
> > after my son turned 1, a great babysitter who helped us out 7
> > hours/week.
> >
> > Now that I'm in a post-doc position, I still only come into work
> > part-time (I'm at the office 25 hours/week) and my husband co-
> parents
> > and we now have a sitter coming in 9 hours/week. The main thing
> I've
> > done is become extremely efficient and I've cut out most of the
> > extraneous stuff that takes up a lot of time (my email
> correspondence
> > is WAY down).
> >
> > Once your baby comes, you will see what works for you and your
> > partner. I encourage you to be flexible, be willing to be open
to
> the
> > experience, and, if it turns out to be what you need, then try
hard
> to
> > carve out the time that you need to be fulfilled in your career.
> > Having a space at home that you can escape to in order to write
> really
> > helps especially if you are breastfeeding. Then you can be
close,
> but
> > still have a space to work. It's important that you set aside the
> > time away from your baby so that you can really focus on the task
of
> > writing your dissertation. That's where the supportive partner
> comes
> > in (or a good babysitter). Leaving your baby with a sitter is a
lot
> > easier when you are just in the next room writing and can come
> attend
> > to things if you are needed. That may be a good way to start
back
> to
> > working while still being close for your baby.
> >
> > My dissertation advisors both have small children and spouses in
> > academia, so they were really supportive of me having a child.
They
> > worried some (I think) about me finishing on time, but ultimately,
> > they really supported me working at home a lot and provided me
with
> > great role models of how to incorporate academia and family. I
had
> > trouble working during my first trimester because I was exhausted
> and
> > felt sick, so I worked at home and that was just fine. My current
> > post-doctoral mentor is also very very supportive and expecting
his
> > first child in January. He is fine with me being at the office
> > part-time as long as I continue to be productive. These are the
> sorts
> > of situations that we need to encourage and that are hopefully
> > becoming the norm. Without this support, I don't think it would
> have
> > been possible to have a child and continue in academia.
> >
> > We'll see how it works as I transition into the next phase of my
> > career after the post-doc.
> >
> > Best to you Flore in your pregnancy and in this transition away
from
> > being "just" a scientist to being a mom AND a scientist! It's a
> > delicate balancing act, but know that there are a lot of us out
here
> > going through the same things. And that it IS very possible to be
> > fulfilled BOTH as a mom and as a scientist. Especially as we
> > encourage the continuation of supportive work environments and as
we
> > continue to see more and more examples of successful scientists
who
> > also are successful parents. I think we are very near a tipping
> point
> > and with women making up the majority of ecology graduate
students,
> it
> > will just be more and more normal to see the needs of families
taken
> > into account in the academic career path. At least that's my
> hopeful
> > perspective!
> >
> > Best to everyone,
> > Carolyn
> >
> > --- In scienceandfamilies@yahoogroups.com, "viard_cretat_flore"
> > <viard_cretat_flore@> wrote:
> > >
> > > Hello everybody and especially Sara,
> > >
> > > I read your article in Frontiers in Ecology and Environment
(and
> by
> > > the way discovered this group :) and found it very useful for
> young
> > > scientists and young mothers/fathers. When deciding to have a
> baby, it
> > > is extremely hard to know how you will able to continue to work
> while
> > > the baby will be here. Families are not always visible in the
> > > workplace and colleagues tend to avoid to say that they must
leave
> > > their work early because of their children. Most of my
colleagues
> also
> > > waited to have a permanent position to start to think to a
> family, so
> > > they had their first child around 35 years old. I am 26 years
old
> (so
> > > will probably be the youngest mother in my lab), have finished
my
> PhD
> > > this summer and I am pregnant (3 months). I will try to find a
> post
> > > doc starting 2-3 months after my baby will be born. I must say
> these
> > > three last months of pregnancy have been extremely hard
> considering
> > > my work (I am finishing my papers on my PhD). I could not at
all
> work
> > > 8 hours a day, because I felt very tired, sick all the day and
> only
> > > could sleep a lot. I don't know at all how it will be when the
> baby
> > > will be here, but I feel it more secure since I read your
opinion
> (the
> > > message is finally : yes, it is possible to be young scientist
and
> > > having children, and other parents experience it).
> > >
> > > Do other mothers have experienced difficulties with their work
> during
> > > the pregnancy? How did you manage to continue, and how was it
> > > perceived by your supervisors and colleagues?
> > >
> > > Thanks
> > >
> > > Flore
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > --- In scienceandfamilies@yahoogroups.com, "sescanga"
<sescanga@>
> > > wrote:
> > > >
> > > > Hello,
> > > >
> > > > I'm a Ph.D. candidate and the mother of a 2 year old. I'm
> writing up
> > > > my dissertation while taking care of my son at home--with
help
> from a
> > > > babysitter 3 mornings a week. It is very inspiring to read
the
> > > > thoughts people have posted.
> > > >
> > > > I'm writing an article on the balance of career and family to
> be
> > > > submitted to Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment at the
> end of
> > > > the month. My article is based on feedback, obtained through
> > > > informal conversations and a score of answers to a formal
> survey,
> > > > from other ecologists at all stages of career. I finished my
> draft
> > > > yesterday and was perusing the literature to see what others
> had to
> > > > say about this topic, and found Carolyn's article (2007,
> Bulletin of
> > > > ESA), and then joined this group.
> > > >
> > > > The topics that are of most interest here (and in Carolyn's
> article)
> > > > are those that are also of most interest to the people who
> provided
> > > > feedback for my article. It seems as though a lot of these
> issues
> > > > are pretty universal, and don't have easy answers. In
> developing my
> > > > article, I was encouraged to see that both men and women
shared
> a
> > > > keen interest in the topic.
> > > >
> > > > Members of this group might also be interested in the
articles
> > > > Science has compiled on the topic:
> > > >
>
http://sciencecareers.sciencemag.org/career_development/previous_issue
> > > > s/articles/2800/scientists_as_parents_feature_index/
> > > >
> > > > I'm planning to cite Carolyn's article in my article in the
> hopes
> > > > that we can perhaps use it as a second jumping off point for
> further
> > > > fruitful discussions in this group.
> > > >
> > > > Sara
> > > >
> > >
> >
>